Jude The Obscure Thomas Hardy GCSE English Study Guide Copyright ©2007 www.englishteaching.co.uk + www.english-teaching.co.uk The title page from the first Penguin edition of Jude the Obscure, printed in 1895 Jude the Obscure was first published as a serial in Harper’s New Monthly between 1894 and 1895. The Penguin edition of Hardy’s narrative was published in London in 1895. Owing to the controversy surrounding the novel’s outright condemnation of Victorian society, it would be Hardy’s last novel – he would spend the rest of his working life writing poetry and drama. Copyright ©2007 www.englishteaching.co.uk + www.english-teaching.co.uk Jude the Obscure: Character Hardy’s characters in the novel have been the subject of much critical debate. In contrast to the Realist authors of the period, who subscribed to the idea that literature should present people as they are and society as it is rather than an as objects of literary embellishment, Hardy’s characters appear to be deliberately constructed to represent ideas and are the objects of his creative design. There are a number of key ways of looking at, and thinking about, the characters that Hardy has created in Jude the Obscure, which, in turn, allow the reader a greater understanding of the complex relationship between individuals and the destiny they are afforded by Victorian society, the central discussion of the novel. Contrast Hardy wrote in a letter to a contemporary, Edmund Goose, that Jude the Obscure ‘is all contrasts’, that is, the novel succeeds by consistently presenting the audience with a character, theme or setting and its diametric opposite. In turn, as readers, we are able to elicit the tensions at the heart of Jude’s world by identifying the oppositions that drive Hardy’s narrative toward its brutal climax. One of the key ways that Hardy uses contrast is in the novel’s characterisation: the stark contrast between the utilitarianism of the Marygreen residents and Jude’s desire to understand the abstracts of mathematics and ancient languages, for example, exemplifies the way that Hardy uses contrast to establish the moral and ideological tensions that drive the narrative. Equally, the contrasts between Arabella and Sue are telling: one a coarse, pragmatic country girl whose sensual physicality counterpoints Jude’s sexual inexperience, but Sue is identified as Jude’s kindred spirit who shares his appreciation of knowledge and in whom he invests an ultimately fatal idealism. Ø For each of the following characters complete the chart below to show how they contrast with one other character, giving details of how they contrast in terms of Hardy’s description, their ideological perspectives and your reaction to them. § Jude Fawley § Aunt Drusilla § Mr Phillotson § Arabella Donn § Sue Bridehead § Little Father Time Characters Hardy’s Descriptions Their Ideological Your Reaction to Perspectives the Characters Ø Explain why you think Hardy has used contrast in the characterisation of the novel – think about its effect on the reader and how it helps Hardy to convey his ideological and moral ideas throughout the novel. Ø Think more broadly about the idea of ‘contrast’ – by deliberately choosing to use contrast to create the characters that embody the world of the novel, what point might Hardy be trying to make about Victorian Society and its toleration, or otherwise, of individuals and their differences? Copyright ©2007 www.englishteaching.co.uk + www.english-teaching.co.uk Jude the Obscure: Character Characters as Representations of Ideas or Types When we consider the contrasts that define Hardy’s characterisation in the novel, it becomes obvious that Hardy’s characters appear to be designed to represent specific types of people and particular thematic ideas that the author is exploring. This is a common technique that writers employ – especially when writing texts that question the morality of society – yet it differs from the conventional literary tradition of the time. The Realist writers were endeavouring to create accurate representations of society – part of which is dependent on creating characters who are credible physical and moral replications of typical human behaviours – in the belief that literature had a responsibility, and was in turn, a greater force for social progress, by exposing its readers to the realities of contemporary society. However, in Jude the Obscure, Hardy appears to reject this, instead, using his characters as objects that allow him to go beyond creating a representation of society, but instead create a society in which his characters are the ideas which are create the situations which lead to the horror of the novel’s climax. Ø Complete the chart below to identify, with textual evidence, which character(s) represent specific concepts or types in the novel: Characters as Representations of Concepts or Types Character’s Name Idea/Concept that they Textual Evidence Represent Character’s Point of View As well as Hardy’s omniscient narration, the reader is constantly the subject of each character’s changing perspectives. Hardy deliberately makes the perpetually changing perspectives of his characters central to the narrative because it alludes to one of the central themes of his narrative – the restlessness created by the growing social modernity of the Victorian period – in the sense that each character, in keeping with the Realist tradition, is constantly re-evaluating their perspectives on the society of the novel – at times in a paradoxical and incoherent way. This is important because Hardy is endeavouring to engage the audience with the complex reactions of his characters to the traumatic events that confront them throughout the novel. The characters perspectives offer us a key insight into their reactions to Victorian society and the events that transpire as a consequence of Victorian morality and social ideals. In turn, it is the characters of the novel who become the greatest exponents of, and critics, of the values that determine their fates. Ø For each of the following characters locate and annotate the moments of the narrative where they offer perspectives on the headings in the bullet point list. Characters: Topics they Comment on: Jude Fawley § Education Sue Bridehead § Religion Arabella § Marriage Mr Phillotson § Morality Little Father Time § Fate/destiny Copyright ©2007 www.englishteaching.co.uk + www.english-teaching.co.uk Jude the Obscure: Character Ø For Jude and Sue complete the chart below to show how their perspectives on any two of the topics listed above can be traced across the novel – give textual examples to sustain your ideas. Jude’s Perspectives on Education At At Aldbrickham At At Marygreen Christminster At Melchester At Shaston & Elsewhere Christminster Again Textual Textual Textual Textual Textual Evidence: Textual Evidence: Evidence: Evidence: Evidence: Evidence: How has his How has his How has his How has his How has his How has his perspective perspective perspective perspective perspective perspective changed? changed? changed? changed? changed? changed? The Obscurers and The Obscured At the core of the novel is the idea that individuals can be obscured as a result of either their own actions or the reactions of others towards them. In broader terms, the idea that individuals can be obscured in society is one of the great tragedies of the novel and, in turn, leads to the horrific conclusion of the narrative. However, Hardy uses the device subtly as a symbol of the way in which people choose either to conform to, or reject, social values and core moral ideals. This is his central condemnation of Victorian society: that those who choose to reject those principles it holds to be most valuable, are forced into lives devoid of happiness and fulfilment. Ø For each of the following characters, complete a chart like the one below to show at what stages in the narrative, and by whom, they are obscured and then consider how the characters might obscure others. Think also about how characters might obscure themselves. § Jude Fawley § Sue Bridehead § Mr Phillotson § Little Father Time Name of Character: Obscured: Reason: Obscurer Reason: (give textual evidence) (give textual evidence) Jude the Obscure: Character The tragic climax of Hardy’s novel is the murder of Jude’s children by Little Father Time who himself commits suicide. Hardy’s novel, when first published, was considered to be an inflammatory condemnation of Victorian Society. If we accept that Hardy uses his characters in order to represent the ideas of Victorian society, it is possible that certain individual bear responsibility for the novel’s tragic climax. Ø Complete the chart below, marking the name of each character who you think bears some responsibility for the moment of the hanging according to their level of individual responsibility. Least responsible Most responsible Copyright ©2007 www.englishteaching.co.uk + www.english-teaching.co.uk Jude the Obscure: Setting Map of Hardy’s Wessex The Novels Thomas Hardy & Wessex Prior to the middle of the nineteenth century, Wessex was a historical term defining the south-western region of Britain ruled by the West Saxons. However, since Hardy resurrected its use in his novels, it has become synonymous with characters and events sprung from his imagination. Interestingly, the complex social and environmental organisation of Wessex as interpreted by Hardy’s readers is of their own construction; that is, Hardy himself did not conceive of the place in the way that his body of work suggests. Hardy’s motivation to set his works of poetry and prose in Wessex was determined by a desire to create a unity between his writing and establish an identifiable sense of place in which the events of his narratives occurred. Hardy referred to Wessex as a ‘partly-real, partly-dream like’ location which is characterised by its expansive landscapes and archetypal pre-industrial urban locations.